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The Truth About the Great Recession Now We're Ready to Hear It The global democracy movement has reached America’s shores. The national conversation has shifted. And each day, more and more of our citizens begin to ignore the billion dollar sideshow designed to distract us, divide us, and most importantly disguise the true causes of the Great Recession.
The time has come to reclaim recent American history from the news/entertainment industry and other narratives scripted by One Percent Media. To aid us, along comes Lawrence Lessig's new book Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress–and a Plan to Stop It. Before offering an actionable plan for reform, this book summarizes with incredible clarity the systemic corruption that led to the collapse of our economy. His chapter "Why Isn't Our Financial System Safe" is reprinted with permission below.
________ From the book REPUBLIC, LOST. Copyright (c) 2011 by Lawrence Lessig. C H A P T E R 7 Why Isn’t Our Financial System Safe? by Lawrence Lessig
This is a criminally incomplete understanding of the disaster that we’ve just suffered. And while it would take a whole book to make that case convincingly, in the few pages that follow, I sketch one part of the argument with enough detail to make it relevant to the argument of this book. For the core driver in this story was not craziness. It was rationality. The behavior we saw— from borrowers to lenders to Wall Street to government officials— was perfectly rational, for each of them considered separately. It was irrational only for the system as a whole. We need to understand the source of that irrationality— not an individual, but a systemic irrationality— to ask whether the policy judgments that produced it could even possibly have made sense. That source is tied directly to regulation. [MORE]
Founding Member Renewal Drive DVD Offer For New Members Too
A year ago we launched an experiment. Our first ever membership drive was an astonishing success, crashing our website more than once (because so many people waited until Feb. 28) and bringing in thousands of Coffee Party Founding Members. We saw this as a resounding affirmation of our civil, fact-based, and trans-partisan approach to the deliberative process. Your faith in us inspired a year of tireless work (see our Top 10 List of accomplishments for 2011), with a prime directive voted for by our members — to achieve tax code reform, Wall Street reform, and campaign finance reform. In recent weeks, Presidential candidates in both parties have said they want to address all three issues. Now it's time to hold them accountable, and we will have no better opportunity to do so than this critically important election year.
As president of your newly elected Coffee Party Board of Directors, I am inviting Founding Members to renew memberships during the month of February with a special offer not available to you a year ago when you first joined (more on this below). We ask that you do this before the end of the month so that by early March, when our new Board meets in person for the first time, we will have an idea how much support to expect as we plan our actions and initiatives throughout the year. We are dedicated to increasing awareness of our core issues and increasing participation in the 2012 election. An informed and involved electorate is the only effective way to counter the influence of money in politics restore self-governance to the People.
Membership Gift for Renewals at $50 or more
(AVAILABLE FOR 1ST TIME MEMBERS TOO)
Award-winning documentary known as the "Coffee Party prequel"
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Introducing Jose Gutierrez of Our New Coffee Party Board of Directors
When I signed up to become an official member of Coffee Party USA a year ago, I couldn't have imagined I'd soon have the the incredible honor of being elected to our Board of Directors. How I got here is a whole story in itself. Why I am here is what I want to talk to you about.
Growing up as the son of an undocumented immigrant to this country, I recognized injustices amongst all walks of life. While I am continually struck at how many people aren't able to voice their concerns, I am surprised that others who can, don't. [MORE]
Introducing Frank Kirkwood of Our New Coffee Party Board of Directors
by Frank Kirkwood
Excerpt: I have never felt more hopeful than I do right now, that we are going to revive our democracy and that you and I and the Coffee Party are going to play an important role in getting that done. Let me ask you, “Do you trust Congress to represent you?” Not many Americans would answer “yes” to that question and it’s no wonder. Members of Congress are in a position where keeping their jobs depends on gathering enormous amounts of campaign money from people who want something in return. And now, thanks to the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case, our elected officials can be intimidated by powerful self-interested groups who can threaten to launch a multi-million dollar negative ad campaign against our representative if he or she dares to displease them.
The way our democracy is supposed to work — we, the people from the congressional district (or for Senators, the state), are the only people our representatives should be dependent on or should ever need to fear. How can we trust our representatives when they are dependent on and intimidated by other people? [MORE]
Book Club, Radio Show to Host Lawrence Lessig Thurs. Feb. 9, 2 PM ET
The Coffee Party Book Club is proud to announce that we are hosting very a special Coffee Party Radio Show to discuss Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress–and a Plan to Stop It with its esteemed author, Professor Lawrence Lessig, on Thursday February 9th at 2 pm ET (11 am PT). Professor Lessig first caught my attention at the Coffee Party Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. After enjoying the most enchanting political presentation I have ever seen and participating in the Mock Constitutional Convention, I had a whole new understanding of the problem we face. Many people said it changed their lives (video below). Please use this form to submit questions or comments for Professor Lessig, and indicate if you'd like to be part of the radio show. Click here to order your copy of Republic, Lost. Click here on Thursday at 2 PM ET to listen live on your computer.
Non-Violence & the Future of Occupy A Global Movement for Economic & Social Equality
by Stephan Said
In the wake of Occupy Oakland’s violent confrontation with police, many people are writing about non-violence and Occupy but missing the point. Occupy has been very successful in awakening an invigorated debate across the country while remaining largely non-violent. But, to this point, Occupy has primarily defined itself through the politics of opposition, as its name even implies. Against Wall St., against Citizens United, against money in politics, against income inequality, against the G8.
To be both effective and sustainable, great movements, like those for Women’s Suffrage and Indian Independence, have to transform themselves beyond a start-up oppositional phase, into one in which they are defined not by what they are against, but by what they are FOR. Great movements lift a moral vision high above the political dialogue that reaches into peoples’ hearts. When a moral vision precedes a movement, the necessary actions against oppressive policies and the diversity of tactics protestors autonomously undertake are fortified and the PR battle is more easily won. [MORE]
Redefining Human Worth
Excerpt: The movers of capital have no interest in what a particular business actually produces. Movers of capital are more focused on the dictates of the market. Their practices do indeed create wealth for a select few — great wealth, often in no time flat — but they often harm or even exploit the business owners, workers, and communities with whom they come into contact. Their lack of interest in the common good, and their lack of wisdom and foresight are evident in many ways. Forty years after the oil embargo, there were no substantive investments in alternative energy to keep up with countries like China, Germany, and Brazil. They’ve lobbied and electioneered for an economic model that rewards outsourcing — sending jobs overseas to maximize profits, driving down wages and driving up unemployment here at home. In the short term, these policies made a few people very wealthy, but thirty years of flat or falling wages have compounded the job losses caused by the Great Recession, creating dangerously low consumer demand, and, without drastic intervention by the Bush and Obama administrations, a recipe for a second Great Depression. Media empires and think tanks have invested unfathomable amounts of money pushing an ideology that demonizes educators, academics, and public safety officers while celebrating profiteers as "job creators." After 30 years of policies designed by and for our "job creators," can we at last acknowledge the empirical evidence and proclaim the trickle-down theory of economics the voodoo that George H. W. Bush proclaimed it all those years ago? [MORE]
Wisconsin Recall Update
by Craig Dunnigan
One year ago on February 11th, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker announced the Budget Repair Bill that, among other provisions, ended most of the decades-old right of public employees to collectively bargain for their wages and working conditions. The resulting furor is well known to anyone who follows the news. This past November, Wisconsin residents — led by a PAC called "A United Wisconsin to Recall Scott Walker" — launched the only remedy allowed us in the state constitution. We announced that we would petition to recall the Governor. On January 17 of this year, we turned in our petition with over one million signatures.
Defend Human Rights, American Jobs
Our beloved smartphones and iPads hide a dirty little secret. Low labor costs combined with an efficient supplier infrastructure make particular Asian factories the economic choice for electronics manufacturers. Many smartphones, most Apple products, and many other technology products are manufactured at Foxconn, headquartered in Taiwan. Unfortunately labor conditions at Foxconn are oppressive, almost barbaric by Western standards. Pitiful wages, long hours, tedious work, bans on organized labor, abusive management, and even suicides are prevalent at the massive plant. While American-designed iPhones are manufactured in oppressive Asian factories, Americans face high unemployment and a troubling decline in manufacturing jobs at home. What can be done?
Perhaps working conditions will improve if we begin to tax oppression. It might work like this. A panel including human rights experts, labor representatives, manufacturing executives, economists, and government trade analysts would begin by creating a reference standard and index for quantifying oppressive working conditions. Let’s call it the sweatshop index. The most worker-friendly factories would score zero; the worst factories would have high scores. [MORE]
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by Jose Gutierrez
by Linda Cook
